The Binny's Blog
Select a category:

Binny’s Hand Picked Knob Creek Single Barrel Reserve Batch No. 3

The tasting panel conveined in yet another mission to bring you the best of the best single barrel offerings. This time our focus was on a third batch of Binny’s Hand Picked Knob Creek Single Barrel Reserve – see also notes from batches one and two. This is a batch you won’t want to miss.

The last two batches have sold quickly, so we’re upping this next purchase to six barrels. Our sample group of fifteen gave us plenty of opportunities to find some world-class bourbon. Here are my personal tasting notes of our top six. You might notice that the six we chose are three pairs of “sister” barrels, barrels that came from the same rick and tier. They are from the same batch distilled on the same day, and sat side by side for over nine years. Still, each carries its own unique fingerprint. Interesting stuff….

We’re hoping the bottles come in sometime soon. You’ll find more info down below the graphic if you want to decode the details…

SAMPLE

LOT ID

WHSE/FLOOR

RICK/TIER

BARREL PF

150B

03A22

H-6

9(1)

132.4

Appealing notes of butterscotch and fruit on the nose, with lots of spice. This sample has a nice round breadth on the palate, with spirit over that.

152A

03A22

H-6

9(1)

132.3

One of the lighter samples we tasted, with the closest thing to perfume that I smelled all day, along with a little spice, grain and fruit. The palate has a strong peach quality plus something similar to hard green candy. A grainy spine. Hot. This is graceful and gorgeous. One of my favorites.

151C

03A24

D-5

4(2)

126.5

This barrel is more raw, more up-front. Green, herbal, maybe even pepper on the nose. Round on entry, with a grainy graham cracker quality that I love. Spicy with a hot finish.

153A

03A24

D-5

4(2)

125.2

A softer style with lots of fruit notes. More of that hard green candy, plus cherry. Evolves on the palate. Soft and spicy on the entry, then baking spice, then even more cherry fruit. Delicious – it gets my vote.

153C

02L04

J-7

10(3)

134.1

More masculine. Along with underripe fruit, there’s a grassy vegetal note on the nose. The palate is spirited with grippy grain and wood. I think the bourbon may have picked up some tannins from the barrel. Get this if you like your bourbon rough.

154C

02L04

J-7

10(3)

133.7

Hotly spirited on the nose, with more cherry and wood grain. This is broad and full on the palate. Sour notes, plus pleasant maple, all buried under heaps of grain and heat. Wears its high proof on its sleeve.

Want to make sense of those numbers up there? Here’s how it breaks down:

SAMPLE A quick reference number for each sample.

Lot ID is the date of distillation:
– The first two digits are the year
– The letter is the month, in order, skipping “I”
– The last two digits are the day.
…So 03A22 refers to whiskey distilled on 2003, January 22.

WAREHOUSE The building at Beam.

FLOOR Most Beam warehouses have eight floors. Floors near the top of the warehouse can get extremely hot – notice that our selections from floors 9 and 10 are at notably higher proof than those from floor 4.

RICK/TIER more specific locatiion within the floor.

BARREL PF Proof of our samples. Bottle proof will probably be cut to 120. Because we have three pairs of sisters,
we’ll need barrel proof as an identifier.

Hey Greg,
Thanks–great info, and I have one of these bottles at home that I much enjoy, so now I have the details and can compare my notes with yours.
But why am I getting this post now (July 6) when you posted it April 26? How can I get the Whiskey Hotline updates in a timely manner?
Best,
Chuckles

Great! Be sure to let us know what you think!
We posted these notes shortly after tasting samples and picking barrels. With the newest web edition of The Whiskey Hotline, which was just updated on Friday, we wanted to include our best tasting notes, which happened to be older ones. How do you like the rest of the Whiskey Hotline?

Bought my first bottle after reading the Hotline – being Knob Creek I had moderate expectations, did not expect anything spectacular. The Single Barrel far exceeded any expectations I had. After a few tastes I gave the first bottle to my brother and went back to buy 6 more bottles. Can’t wait to try all the barrels! Thanks for your expertise in selecting such fine bourbons.

Select Your Store

Shipping Your Order?

Warning

Certain states expressly prohibit the direct importation of alcohol and violation can be punishable as a misdemeanor or felony.

It is Binny's policy not to ship alcohol to certain states where direct shipment is prohibited and therefore, our website will not let you place an order for shipment to Minnesota, Virginia, Michigan, Georgia, Indiana, Kentucky, Maryland, North Carolina, Tennessee, Utah, Washington, West Virginia and other states.

Please contact your local alcoholic beverage control agency for further information.

Purchaser and recipient must be over the age of 21 to purchase alcohol.